Jaylen Brown scored 27 points, Jayson Tatum added 26 and the Boston Celtics withstood another furious third-quarter onslaught by the Golden State Warriors in a 116-100 victory that gave them a 2-1 lead in the NBA Finals. WWOS
Marcus Smart added 24 points and helped lead a defensive effort that held the Warriors to 11 points in the fourth quarter — third-fewest in a finals game in the shot clock era.
Stephen Curry led Golden State with 31 points and six 3-pointers. He had 15 points in a 33-25 third quarter by the Warriors but was hurt late in the fourth after Al Horford rolled into his leg on a loose ball. It was similar to a play during the regular season in which Smart dove into Curry's legs while chasing a loose ball.Klay Thompson broke out of a finals slump and finished with 25 points and five 3s.
"We talked about it quite a bit, our group being resilient and being able to fight through a lot of things and at times when it's most needed being able to lock down on defense," Celtics coach Ime Udoka said. "We did in the fourth quarter,"Despite Curry's noticeable limp after the play with Horford, Warriors coach Steve Kerr said it was not why he pulled him from the game in the closing minutes.
Feeding off the energy of a Garden crowd that jeered Green throughout his miserable night in the first NBA Finals game in Boston since 2010, the Celtics started fast and led by as many as 18 points in the first half.